Physical activity continues to prove itself as a key player in the pursuit of academic performance. Across the board, from elementary-age school children to middle schoolers and university students, researchers agree that an active lifestyle can lead to higher academic achievement. This article explores the different avenues of this relationship, examining scientific data, anecdotal evidence, and medical evidence. Psychosocial factors also contribute to this dynamic, and we will touch on this as well.
Translating Exercise Involvement to Classroom Excellence
When assessing innate intelligence, more factors are at play than meet the eye. Multitudes of studies have demonstrated that physical activity promotes better academics through improvements in key cognitive skills such as executive functioning, decision-making, concentration, perception, and memory. The process works in a bi-directional fashion; many of these skills also enhance sports performance, which in turn promotes better grades.
Stress also plays a vital role in negatively impacting academic performance. Scientists have described how acute stress can reduce blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, leading to a shortage of oxygen and nutrients in this area. These factors together lead to difficulties with concentration, decreasing both memory potential and decision-making capabilities.
Anxiety Affects Academics
Stress often compromises the function of message-sending synapses in the brain, in addition to negatively affecting a process called cortical plasticity. This term refers to the brain’s lifelong ability to reorganize its structure, functions, and neural connections in response to experiences, behavior, and its environment. Together, challenges to these two factors can potentially hinder the learning process. Anxiety, the close partner of stress, likewise elicits negative academic performance in young students. Some scientists have looked at the influence of anxiety levels on psychophysiological response, measuring subjects’ heart rates in order to evaluate the sympathetic modulation of students pursuing different academic fields. Not surprisingly, they correlated high anxiety levels with autonomic activation, hinting that greater anxiety levels led to higher autonomic modulation and lower academic achievement.
Fitness and Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor
We have come to understand that this bi-directional relationship between fitness levels and academic levels relies on more than just learning how best to manage one’s time and concentration. The presence of a substance known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), whose synthesis increases as a result of cardiorespiratory fitness, may hold the key to academic performance.
BDNF plays an important role in a variety of brain functions and processes such as fostering synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, modulating the creation of neuronal circuits, influencing emotional decision-making performance and helping to establish long-term memory. Furthermore, noting the presence of lower levels of BDNF in obese children and adolescents suggests a possible explanation for the reduced academic performance of these individuals.
“Leisure Time” Counts as Physical Activity
Engaging in any physical activity can positively affect stress load and, in turn, perceived study ability. Leisure time activities can also aid one’s recovery experience and academic performance-related parameters, including attention difficulties and perceived study ability. Some universities have gone so far as to suggest that students make time in their busy class schedules for leisure activities, including designated spaces on campuses for such activities.
Anecdotes about exercise and concentration abound, but empirical evidence also points to the efficacy of an active lifestyle. Researchers at the University of Western Ontario have discovered that a brief break for ten minutes of exercise can prime the areas of the brain responsible for executive function.
Professors and teaching assistants might consider supporting periodic physical activity breaks during the learning process, conducted in the immediate study location. This includes, for example, providing instructor videos for active breaks to use while studying at home, and/or allowing instructors to lead in-person activity/exercise breaks in settings such as the university’s libraries or even lectures and seminars. This not only improves academic scores but also reduces sedentary behavior and its associated health risks.
In one randomized controlled trial, scientists sought to determine whether removal of a barrier to exercise might improve academic performance. University students provided with a free gym card exercised more and demonstrated significant improvements in academic performance compared with their cohorts who had to pay for access to the university’s gym facilities. The first group of students also reported a diminished likelihood of dropping out of classes and failing exams. The researchers concluded that exercise led to a healthier lifestyle and increased perceived self-control, ultimately improving academic performance. The study demonstrates that removing barriers to physical activity can be an important tool for improving educational outcomes.
Memory, Recall and Creativity
The human brain needs to harness the ability to focus in order to power through study sessions. However, in the absence of equally critical memory and recall, the focus adds little value. Poor memory makes studying inefficient, which ultimately diminishes a student’s resolve to persevere when the going gets tough.
A study conducted at the University of British Columbia found significant increases in the size of the hippocampus—the brain region responsible for verbal memory—among students who exercised regularly. In contrast to weight-lifting endeavors, aerobic activity appears uniquely capable of improving recall.
In today’s success-driven climate, both students and prospective employers often tend to overlook the benefits of a creative mind. However, creative thinking drives success in careers from digital media to accounting. New light has been shed on how physical movement can help cultivate a more creative mind.
A growing body of research verifies the role of physical activity in boosting creativity. In 2013, a study published in the Frontiers of Human Neuroscience revealed that athletes outperformed their less active peers in creativity tests. These results point to a relationship between regular exercise and two main types of thinking: convergent and divergent. Convergent thinking involves developing a single solution for a problem, whereas divergent thinking leads to multiple solutions.
Starting Physical Activity Early Promotes Better Health and Academics
As mentioned briefly above, cardiorespiratory fitness aligns directly with improved cognitive abilities in students as young as elementary school. Higher VO2 max, a measure of cardiovascular endurance, correlates with better academic performance.
Benefits of cardiovascular fitness include the following:
- Increased blood flow to the brain
- Enhanced neural connectivity
- Improved executive function
These physiological changes can lead to better focus, information processing, and decision-making skills in the classroom.
Physical activity of any kind supports learning by addressing the following important aspects:
- Reduces stress and anxiety/lowers cortisol levels
- Improves mood and self-esteem
- Enhances sleep quality
- Enhances focus/concentration
Exercise also provides a healthy outlet for pent-up energy and frustrations which often surface particularly among very young students. Short bursts of activity between lessons can refresh students’ minds and prepare them for the next task. Simple exercises like stretching or jumping jacks can boost energy levels and cognitive function.
Recess and Sports Teams
Recess serves a greater purpose than simply allowing children to get some fresh air while also giving teachers a brief respite. These periods allow children to release energy, socialize, and return to class refreshed, thereby boosting academic performance. Recess also improves attention spans and reduces disruptive behavior in the classroom. Physical activity during recess enhances memory consolidation, helping students retain information learned earlier in the day.
Unstructured play during recess develops important social skills and problem-solving abilities, both of which indirectly contribute to better academic performance and classroom dynamics. Schools that prioritize recess and activity breaks often see improvements in students’ test scores and overall academic performance.
Participation in sports and group exercises, even at a young age, promotes teamwork and communication. Children learn early on how to cooperate with their peers, follow instructions, adhere to game rules and peacefully resolve conflicts. Such improvements in social behavior often translate to better classroom conduct. Students with strong social skills tend to have higher academic grades, and show a greater inclination to engage in class discussions and seek help when needed.
Nutrition, Fitness and Academics
A group of researchers in Fargo, North Dakota worked with a local school district to assess the link, if any, between selected categories of nutrition and physical activity behaviors, fitness measures, and body mass index (BMI) with academic performance.
The study included 800 6th-grade students. They each completed an adapted “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey “as well as a variety of fitness assessments: the one-mile run, curl-ups, and push-ups. Height, weight, and BMI of the students were recorded, and the researchers matched all of these results to standardized scores
Higher Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) math scores tended to align with those students who 1) consumed a better diet: more milk and breakfast, less 100% fruit juice and fewer sweetened beverages and 2) participated in vigorous cardiovascular exercise and sports teams along with reduced screen time.
Fighting Age with Exercise
The hippocampus shrinks in late adulthood, often leading to impaired memory and an increased risk for dementia. Scientists recognize that hippocampal and medial temporal lobe volumes tend to remain larger in adults who regularly participate in exercise, and physical activity training increases hippocampal perfusion.
In a randomized controlled trial with 120 older adults, aerobic exercise training seemed to increase the size of the anterior hippocampus, leading to improvements in spatial memory. Exercise training increased hippocampal volume by 2%, effectively reversing age-related loss in volume by an equivalent of 1 to 2 years. Researchers also noted in the trial that increased hippocampal volume was positively associated with higher serum BDNF levels, a mediator of neurogenesis, as discussed above. Hippocampal volume declined in the control group, but higher preintervention fitness partially attenuated the decline, suggesting that fitness may actually protect against volume loss. Caudate nucleus and thalamus volumes were unaffected by the intervention. If aerobic exercise training can prove effective at reversing hippocampal volume loss in late adulthood, active seniors might witness improved memory function.
Start with Small Changes
A few simple tweaks can help individuals build exercise into their lifestyles, whether or not their goals focus on improving academic performance. Energized by the increased endorphins, an initial boost in exercise helps individuals cultivate and sustain a variety of healthy habits. This proves particularly true for students of all ages.
Below are some simple ways in which individuals can get more involved in movement as a regular activity of daily life:
- Get involved in organized sports/college-based recreational pursuits. Consider this an opportunity to build strong relationships with fellow students. Scheduled practices and games help with accountability.
- Track step count. Whether using a Fitbit or a simple app on a smartphone, tracking progress while adding small bursts of exercise throughout the day really adds up. Aim for at least 10,000 steps per day.
- Integrate exercise with studying. If textbooks or other course materials come in an audio format, downloading this content on a smartphone and listening while on the treadmill or stationary bicycle combines both study and recreation, thereby creating more free space in a daily schedule.
- Walk or bike to class/work. For students who reside on or near campus, or for adults who live near their places of employment, finding new ways to get to class/work can boost both morning mood and levels of concentration before even starting the business part of the day. Even parking further away from a destination can make a difference.
- Prioritize exercise goals. While academic performance must take priority over some other social outlets, we have learned that good grades and exercise work optimally together. When setting goals for the semester, make sure to include exercise. Some students find it easiest to plan their gym visits at a specific time of day or to set a goal for the number of workouts per week. Others find higher levels of motivation by setting personal athletic goals, such as completing a 5K or bench pressing a specific amount of weight.
Choose movement that feels fun and sustainable. Embracing exercise with a positive mindset will translate into a better mood, more efficient time management, and academic success.
References
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pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9690464/Sample test questions:
